Life's Punishments
by Dream Giver
Summary: My first fic on ff.net. I don't really know how to summarize it until I get the next chapter up, but I will tell you that it's about Ginny Weasly, and what she overhears.


Life's Punishments

Chapter 1

Ginny Weasly sat at the old office desk, which was very decrepit, and creaked every time she moved it slightly. Striking her knee once again (with thanks to the spinning chair she was in) against the desk, she sighed.

"I can't get any work done!" She shrilled. The thread of tolerance had broken at last. Ginny immediately wished she hadn't have yelled, in view of the fact that three house elves came running in at the same time, creating pandemonium by squealing with worry.

"I'm fine." Ginny said over the noise of the cute, but annoying creatures. The elves scampered out of the room, afraid that they had made her angry by something they had done. Shaking her head, she tried not to spin her chair, and went to work once again, but to no attainment. Her mind kept wandering to the silliest things; why did the company have house elves, why did she choose this job, and why did she get the most infuriating desk? Knowing that she couldn't get any work done, she left the aged building, with the contemplation of doing the work that she had not done on the start of the weekend tomorrow. 

Finally, she arrived at her parents' house, which was the same as it had been years ago, except with a new coat of paint. Ginny was glad that she had magicked the paint onto the house. It looked much better, and besides, she had a sufficient amount of free time on her hands, thus it was no trouble at all. She opened the front door, and stepped in.

"Mum! I'm home!" She called.

"Honey!" Mrs. Weasly cried, stepping away from the sink for a moment and drying her hands to give her daughter a hug. "Guess what came in the mail!"

"What?" Ginny looked down at her short mum.

"The time when you can take your apparation test!"

Ginny gave a theatrical gasp. "Oh my goodness!" She sarcastically exclaimed. She put the back of her hand to her head, and tilted her head back; not at all different from what the women in dramatic movies did.

Mrs. Weasly smacked her daughter on the arm softly. "You stop that!"

"Mum! You act like it's such a big deal, though!" Ginny smiled.

"It is! It's not every day you see your only daughter taking a test for apparation." Mrs. Weasly sniffed.

"Mum! You're not going to cry, are you?"

"I'm sorry, honey." Mrs. Weasly wiped a tear from her cheek. "It's just that you're growing up so fast. I don't know what I'll do without anyone but your father here."

"You should be glad that all of the kids will soon be out of your hair! Ron's not even moved out, yet."

"I know. It seems that just yesterday you were my little baby girl going to Hogwarts." Mrs. Weasly smiled. "I'd better go and get busy. Your father will want some dinner."

"Yeah, I had better go upstairs." Ginny turned and ran upstairs. On the way to her room, she saw Harry, Hermione, and Ron leaving Ron's bedroom.

"Hello, Ginny." Hermione and Harry said.

"Hi, both of you." Ginny replied.

"How's life treating you?" Hermione asked.

"Very safely. Too safely, if you ask me. It's getting too boring, I believe."

Hermione laughed. "The same here. You don't know how I dread getting up in the mornings to go to a stuffy office!"

"It seems that we have something in common, Hermione. I had better go to my room. Nice talking to you."

"You too. I'll see you around." Hermione followed Harry and Ron downstairs, while Ginny went into her room. 

As soon as Ginny had closed her room door, she sat down at her desk, which did not creak and was not so aged. She opened a drawer, and took a piece of parchment from a stack, to write a letter. Dipping her quill in ink, she thought about what to write.

_Dear Amanda, _

_How are you? I'm doing fine. Although my job is quite boring, it is better than having nothing to do all day. I hope that I will get promoted soon; I hate my office. The people that work there are mostly very stuck up. I thought that being a fashion designer would be glamorous, it turns out that I was wrong to think that. Of course there are some people out there who go out into all of these exotic countries, but they have worked at the company for more than a year. I don't know if I can work here for another year!_

_Well, my family is doing fine. Errol has died. I guess he had had it enough. He flew into a window, and then just collapsed. I tried to revive him, but I failed. You are probably wondering why I decided to tell you this, it's because you need to know why I sent Pig. I know that you are not very fond of the little owl, but he gets the job done good enough. I hope that Ron does not need him._

_Fred and George have moved out. Fred is getting married! Guess who it is! Angelina! I think that the wedding is about two months more. George has bought a house with Alicia (as you know, they are now wed). I'm not exactly sure where Fred is staying, but I know that it is not here. _

_Penelope is expecting a baby very soon. Percy is very excited. He's always very fidgety when he's around, maybe because this coming child will be his third. His first child, Leslie, is very sweet. I hope that when I have a child, it will be like her. The second child, Matthew, is very wild. He never stops talking, and is very rude to his sister. I still love him, though, like he was my own._

_Bill and Charlie are doing fine. I don't really know what is new with them; I have not seen them as of yet._

_Mother and Father are doing just fine. Mother is getting very sensitive. Just today she cried over me growing up so fast. I don't know what she shall do without us. Father has gotten a promotion, and I must say that it is about time. He is getting much more than he was. _

_I had better close the letter about now, I'm afraid that it is getting too long. _

_ _

_Your Friend, _

_Ginny Weasly_

_ _

Ginny held out the letter, and re read it. Holding the letter, she ventured into Ron's bedroom, where Pig was. Standing in Ron's doorway, she looked around for Pig. It seemed that Ron had rearranged his room. She didn't know where anything was anymore. She finally spotted Pig, zooming about. Wondering why she hadn't seen him, Ginny tried to catch Pig, who was purposely flying around more rapidly. Ginny froze when she heard Ron, Hermione, and Harry in the hallway. She quickly hid herself in Ron's closet, hoping to scare the daylights out of them by screaming dreadfully loud and jumping out when they least expected. Standing there in the darkness, she tried not to move, as Ron's clothes would rustle against the wall, and the three others would know someone was in the closet. Hermione, Ron, and Harry walked in.

"What do you mean 'Draco has gone back', Harry?" Ginny heard Hermione articulate.

"I told you. Draco has gone back to the dark side. He's helped Voldemort come back to power, after I defeated him. He's back." Harry whispered. "And he has Draco by his side."

AN: Well, there goes my first ever chapter of my first ever fic on ff.net! Please review! The next chapter will be much, much longer.


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